Christmas Shoes
by Lithium Amaranth
Summary: The group lands back in Hanshin during the Christmas Season. The travelers can't quite understand the holiday, but that may change after an encounter with a little boy, a pair of shoes, and a small little family very similar to their own.


**Geez! Sorry this is so late~! I finally finished writing this yesterday. I know Christmas was about...a month ago. But I still wanted to upload this. This is based off one of my favorite Chritsmas songs, Christmas Shoes by Newsong. This isn't a songfic though, just based on it. There's also a small spoiler for Fai's past but I think that by now it's pretty common knowledge. Nonetheless I will warn anyone who hasn't finished the manga yet but just so you know it's not such a huge spoiler so you can read this AND the manga and still be surprised :D. Reviews are appreciated,constructive criticism is VERY welcome. And on that note I say...ENJOY!**

**Disclaimer: I own absolutley nothing but the Plot ^^ All charcters belong to CLAMP**

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As the group landed in another world, Syaoran glanced at the sleeping princess in his arms. Still passed out from the feather found in the last world, he hoped that this country was a peaceful one.

"Well isn't this nostalgic?" he heard Fai say with a smile. Syaoran glanced up at the magician and then at his surroundings and smiled.

"Here again?" Kurogane remarked monotonously.

Mokona jumped up and down on his head in excitement "It's the Hanshin Republic!" It squealed.

As the trio looked around they could tell it was definitely Hanshin again, but the weather was different than last time. It was much colder and there was snow on the ground. All the buildings were decorated uniformly with red and green lights. There was a large pine tree adorned with silver and gold ornaments sitting in the center of the square. At the very top was a shining gold star.

"It's Christmas time too!" Mokona shouted excitedly. Kurogane cocked his eyebrow at the creature.

"What the heck are you talking about you little fur-ball?" he demanded. Mokona gasped overdramatically.

"Kuro-puu doesn't know about Christmas!" it exclaimed.

"If I Did Then I Wouldn't Have Asked!" he replied irately to the white manjuu. Fai made a noise resembling a humorous 'henh'.

"Well I would like to know what this 'Christmas' is too. But maybe we could get somewhere warmer? Maybe Arashi-chan and Sorata-chan know we're here and will take us in again. Either way we don't want Syaoran-kun and Sakura-chan to catch a cold now do we Kuro-tan?" the mage said benignly. Kurogane was about to retort when Syaoran agreed to find Arashi and Sorata. It was quite cold out and he feared for his princess's sake.

As expected, the young couple did know of their arrival and agreed to provide accommodations for them again. Suddenly Sorata had a grave expression on his face as he told them of another couple living just upstairs. He said that they were staying here for the holidays, but unfortunately the mother of their adopted son was terribly sick. He feared they would not make it till Christmas.

When Syaoran asked if they could do anything, Sorata shook his head. The son was 9 years old but incredibly strong hearted. If he lost his mother he would be devastated but he would persevere. He mentioned that he and Syaoran would get along wonderfully.

Once again the subject was brought around to Christmas and Sorata's face lit up immediately at the mention of the holiday. He explained how it all started religiously, and then he and Mokona explained animatedly about the modern traditions. A fat man leaving presents to all the good little girls and boys of the world, flying reindeer, Christmas trees, stockings, milk and cookies, mistletoe, the whole shebang. Syaoran, Kurogane and Fai had a hard time wrapping their heads around the concept but had an idea of how it was celebrated.

"And then you give presents to the people most important to you!" Mokona implored. Syaoran risked a glance at Sakura. This did not go unnoticed by the adults but Kurogane just shrugged.

"I still don't really see the point." he remarked. Mokona and Sorata grinned at each other.

"Looks like we know who the Scrooge is!" Sorata laughed.

"Kuro-scrooge! Kuro-scrooge! Ba-Humbug!" Mokona laughed. While Fai laughed at the comical display and ridiculous nickname, Kurogane looked on in irate bewilderment.

"WHAT THE HELL!"

"Now now Kuro-scrooge, You don't want to be impolite to our hosts." Fai laughed as he joined in with Mokona's chorus.

"YOU IDIOT! You don't even know what that means!" He bellowed. Fai laughed as he dodged the ninja's blow. As Sorata watched the two, he smiled amiably.

"You guys really should meet the family upstairs later." he said in that sad tone again. Kurogane ceased his attacks and Fai discontinued his teasing as well. Before Syaoran could ask, Sorata gave them some warm clothes and a coin purse of money.

"Tomorrow's Christmas you know. There's enough in there to buy each other some gifts. Plus I know a guy at this one store down the street who might help in your search for the feathers. If you hurry, he should still be open." he smiled.

"eh…thank you." Syaoran said. "Then you wouldn't mind…"

"Don't worry. I'll watch Sakura for you until she wakes." Arashi said. As Syaoran thanked her, the trio changed and walked over to the store Sorata spoke of.

Inside was a small line of people at the cash register. The clerk Sorata spoke of was a parallel of the old geezer Kurogane and Syaoran bought their swords from in Outo. They all agreed that if they bought something, they'd get it for Sakura only. Fai found her some hair pins, Kurogane found some pink gloves and Syaoran found a necklace similar to the style she was used to wearing in Clow Country.

They lined up at the cash register behind a little boy with light brown hair, similar to Syaoran's and in his hands was a pair of beautiful blue shoes. They were a pair of flats with a silver dragon and phoenix design. He seemed antsy waiting in line as he bounced on his feet and looked around the people to see how many more were waiting. Syaoran had a sense of nostalgia while watching him. He felt…odd, just staring at the back of his head. He felt like there was somehow an invisible connection and once the little boy reached the cash register he found out why.

He turned his head to the side to reveal his face. He was Syaoran's parallel only younger. Kurogane was slightly dumbstruck and Fai stood there with a bemused smile. Syaoran stared at him wide eyed for a moment, but what caught him off guard was what his younger self said to the cash register.

"Sir could you hurry please? I wanna buy these shoes for my mother and there's not a lot of time. She's been sick for a while now and I know… she'll look beautiful in these…if momma meets Jesus tonight." he said, barely choking back his tears. Syaoran's eyes widened as well as Kurogane's and Fai's.

The old geezer didn't seem to react, he just counted the pennies and shook his head. "Sorry son but I'm afraid there's not enough here. You need two more dollars."

The young Syaoran's shoulder slumped as his eyes glistened with tears but somewhere deep in his brown iris's was great determination and the will to persevere. "Please sir! It's Christmas Eve and these shoes are just her siz.."

"I'll pay remaining amount." Syaoran suddenly said. The young parallel turned around and stared wide eyed at the resemblance between him and this stranger. Syaoran didn't look at him right away as he gave the clerk the last two dollars the boy owed. When the transaction was made he smiled down at the little boy.

"Merry Christmas." he said, remembering the phrase that Mokona told him about. The boy smiled up at him and thanked him deeply. He ran out of the shop with the shoes hurriedly.

"That was a very generous thing you did Syaoran-kun. Did you do it because he looked like you?" Fai asked as he whispered in Syaoran's ear.

"Not really." he said as he bought the remaining of their presents for Sakura. They asked the old man about the feather but their efforts came up negative. He hadn't heard anything of a sudden burst of kudan power or power in general. Nor had he ever heard of a magic feather aside from the one Syaoran claimed last time. The teenager thanked him and left with his two companions.

As they exited the building, they saw the little boy standing outside the door anxiously, waiting for them. He turned to them and smiled gratefully.

"I just wanted to thank you again. I'm sure my mother would want to thank you too…so…I was wondering if you'd like to go say hello to her." he said, staring hopefully at Syaoran. "I live in an apartment not far from here. It's only a block down the road!" he implored.

It didn't take long for Syaoran to realize that this must've been the adoptive son of the family that lived in Arashi and Sorata's building. If that was case then there was no problem.

"We'd love to." Syaoran replied to the little boy. At this Kurogane grunted in surprise and Fai cooed teasingly, to provoke Kurogane. As the little boy caught sight of them his jaw dropped and hope flooded his eyes for an instant.

"Mother? Father?" he whispered. Fai and Kurogane looked at him oddly until the little boy shook his head. "No, I guess it can't be."

"I'm sorry, but I believe this is technically the first time we've met." Fai said. "But maybe Kuro-min can help you. He's a Daddy!" Fai teased.

"Knock it off you bastard!" Kurogane shouted. The little boy smiled.

"You act exactly like Mother and Father. You look exactly like them too but…Mother hasn't looked that healthy for a while…so you can't be them." the boy said sadly. Syaoran knelt by him. He had a feeling he knew who this kids parents were and honestly it would've disturbed him a lot more if the "Mother" wasn't fatally ill.

"Can we meet them then?" he asked. The little boy nodded and grabbed his hand, leading him to the boarding house. As the four all waved briefly to Arashi and Sorata, the little boy introduced himself.

"My name's Li by the way." he said.

"My name's Syaoran and this is Fai-san and Kurogane-san." Syaoran's motioned to himself and his traveling companions. Li cocked his head as he unlocked the door.

"That's strange. That's the same name as Uncle Fai." Li said. At the mention of his brother's name, Fai almost froze.

"Father!" Li called out as he entered the apartment complex. "Father, I found some shoes for Mother. I thought they would be good Christmas present." he said. From the doorway, they heard a familiar, gruff, voice reply.

"I'm sure he'll love them kid. Go see how he's doing and I'll whip up some dinner." the voice said. Li nodded.

"Father also, I invited some people over. They helped me pay for the shoes and they're staying in the room downstairs."

"Is that right? Well who the hell would…" he stopped. As Li ran into a nearby bedroom, a parallel of Kurogane stepped out from behind the kitchen counter. He froze when he saw Fai and stiffened when he locked eyes with Kurogane. Then he sighed.

"So you're the one's Sorata-san told us about. The dimension travelers." he said.

"Wait a minute! Why the hell do you know that!" he demanded. His parallel growled in irritation. Fai couldn't even muster a false smile at this point. If this was Kurogane's parallel, and Li was Syaoran's parallel, and the boy had an Uncle Fai…He had a pretty good idea of who was in the next room on their deathbed.

"Because we were acquaintances of the Dimensional Witch as well. Sorata-san also told us about you when we moved here. Now, anymore questions?" he asked.

"Yeah, What's your name?" Kurogane demanded. His parallel raised his eyebrow.

"Kurogane, but call me Youou. In the interest of differentiation. And your name?" Kurogane paled ever so slightly. Syaoran stepped ahead.

"My name's Syaoran and this is Fai-san and Kurogane-san." he introduced as well. Youou glanced at Fai. The mage winced at the look he was receiving. There was despair in his eyes, slight jealousy and irritation. He sighed harshly and stepped aside to reveal the bedroom door.

"If you want to go see him, he's in there." Youou motioned.

"'Him?'" Kurogane asked, under impression that this mother was female. Youou sighed again irately.

"You should know the answer to that. Yes, HIM." he said, eyeing Fai meaningfully. Kurogane followed his gaze, but didn't allow himself to react. He had known. He didn't need to ask. He knew. He even knew that Fai was trying not to look him in the eyes as well.

Syaoran was the first one to step forward and into the room of the fatally ill Fai. The other two followed with some hesitance. Li was sitting on the bed next to Fai's parallel, holding his hand. On his feet were the beautiful blue shoes the boy had purchased in the store.

He looked so pale. Cold sweat made his blonde hair stick to his face. He had dark circles under his eyes and his skin was paler than paper. Still in his sickly state, he managed to smile at Li and at his familiar looking guests. After hearing Li's story, he assumed these people were the parallel's.

"You must be Syaoran-kun and Fai-san. Behind you must be Mr. Kuro-chu." he smiled, voice weak. Kurogane frowned while Fai smiled and sat on the other side of his other self.

"Well this is certainly interesting isn't Yuui-chan?" Fai smiled, addressing his parallel by his own real name. Yuui Flourite smiled back, though not as strained.

"Yes it is Fai-chan but also exciting as well. What's your Kuro-tan like? Probably the same grumpy pout as mine." he laughed. Fai laughed as well.

"Yep, that's Kuro-tan." Fai agreed. Kurogane who was lingering by the doorway was suddenly pulled out by Youou.

"Sake?" he offered Kurogane a bottle as he sat down on the couch with his own bottle. He tipped it up and swallowed nearly half of it. Wincing at the massive kick of the alcohol. After a couple seconds, Kurogane joined him and drank some from his own bottle. Silence enveloped the room for a couple minutes.

"You're lucky you know." Youou finally said. Kurogane looked at him oddly.

"What are you talking about?" he asked. Youou just looked at him.

"Don't be like that idiot and dodge the question like that. It drives me insane." he scolded.

"…I know." Kurogane replied. "But what do you want me to do about it?" he added, not really clear on what he was referring too. Youou picked it up pretty easily though.

"Don't let him go. If you and I supposedly share the same souls, it only makes sense we love the same man right?" he sneered, anticipating Kurogane's awkward defense.

"LOVE! Damn you're so blunt." Kurogane replied, taking a swig of sake. Youou chuckled bitterly.

"Exactly. That's what happens when you meet yourself." he replied. Another silence. "I can tell you already know how you feel about that moron. It's obvious he feels the same way too. Are you really both not going to do anything until the last minute?" he asked bitterly. Kurogane had no response. He just took another swing of sake.

"Father!" Li called from the bedroom. Youou was up in an instant, faster than Kurogane surprisingly. Youou was beside his son, staring at Yuui before the warrior even entered the room. Yuui looked terrible, completely pale and weak. Yet the idiot still managed a smile.

"Yay, Daddy's here." he laughed, coughing a bit as well. Youou put his hand on the blonde's and kissed it.

"Please, our son doesn't even call me that." he retorted. Kurogane shifted uncomfortably. It was odd to hear himself call a young Syaoran his and Fai's 'son'. Speaking of whom, Fai seemed slightly uncomfortable as well, but whether it was because he was seeing himself on his deathbed or because of the deep relationship his parallel shared with Kurogane's, parallel he wasn't sure.

But he was sure about this.

Kurogane put his hand on the blonde's shoulder as the mage held his other self's hand. Fai stiffened and looked up at the ninja. Kurogane didn't look at him, he just left his hand there and stared interestedly at the parallels. Fai smiled warmly and carefully leaned back into Kurogane's abdomen.

Yuui hadn't missed this and neither had Youou, but they knew better than to call the two out on it. The blonde male turned towards his lover and smiled.

"Remember to switch the laundry out tomorrow." he said. Youou stiffened and his eyes widened. He gripped his husband's hand tighter.

"Bastard. You're not going anywhere." he said, his voice cracking slightly and betraying his emotions. Yuui chuckled.

"I don't want to leave, but don't worry. I won't take my eyes off you, except for when I'm watching Li." Yuui added, nodding towards his son who was tightly holding the fingers that Youou's hand left exposed.

"Watch over us mother." he pleaded "I'll pray to your shrine everyday."

"I'll watch, I'll watch, and you can pray if you want to, but I really want you to grow up. Live a happy life, and annoy Kuro-sama as much as possible to remind him of me." Yuui smiled. Youou lightly hit him on the head.

"Idiot." he muttered. The blonde chuckled and turned to the dimension travelers, who were observing the opera in silence.

"It was lovely meeting all of you. You'll have to come back soon and give Kuro-tan and Li an update on your lives. They'll rally the message to me later." he said. Fai smiled.

"Will do. It was nice meeting you too. I'm surprised we have so much in common." the mage joked. Laughing along with his dying parallel. Kurogane's eyebrow twitched in irritation. He hated the way the mage's parallel was talking as if he were just going on a 6 year business trip. From the look on Youou's face he could tell that he hated it too, but he kept quiet.

Yuui turned to his lover again.

"Youou? Will you do one thing for me?" he asked, using his husband's first name. Youou sat straighter.

"What is it?" he asked. Yuui's smile softened.

"Kiss me." he said. Youou did not reply, he just captured his husband's lips in a passionate goodbye kiss. One Youou would never forget. Fai leaned back further into Kurogane and the warrior's grip on the mage tightened. They watched themselves envelop each other's lips in a loving kiss. It…wasn't as awkward as one would think. For a brief moment, both the mage and warrior thought the same thing, felt the same emotion and guessed that each other had felt the same.

They were so lucky to have each other, and they'd admit only to themselves that the other owned his heart.

When Yuui parted from Youou, his last breath left him in the form of four simple words

"I love you…Kurogane."

Then there was no more breath, no more heartbeat, no more light in his eyes. Just a content smile and relaxed eyelids. He could have passed for sleeping.

Resting his head on the forehead of his lover, Youou gritted his teeth and kissed him one more time. Syaoran, led Kurogane and Fai out of the room to leave the little family by themselves. The kid didn't fail to notice that Fai was leaning against Kurogane's shoulder slightly and Kurogane let him.

Youou cradled his head in his free arm, gripping Yuui's hand a bit more.

"He's beautiful." Li said. Youou lifted up his head to stare at his son oddly, eyes shining with tears that dare not be shed till he was alone.

"What the hell are you talking about?" he demanded. Li turned to look at him forlorn, two tears escaping his unblinking eyes.

"I want him to look beautiful, if mama meets Jesus tonight."

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**Reviews are appreciated!**


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